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Webinar Preview: Arbinet PeeringSolutions

One of the hot topics currently in the Voice over IP (VoIP) arena is VoIP peering, the process of connecting communities of IP-based networks so that voice traffic can be delivered directly from one provider to another, bypassing the PSTN.

Because peering is complicated, and the benefits may be small on day one, many service providers are not taking advantage of those benefits. One company that provides a solution that takes a different approach to this problem is Arbinet. Unlike many of its competitors, Arbinet (News - Alert) is taking a unique approach to peering by defining it as voice peering rather than VoIP peering.

In an upcoming Webinar (Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. EST) co-hosted by TMCnet Associate Editor Erik Linask and Arbinet CTO Steve Heap, Arbinet will present its PeeringSolutions and explain how these services can help providers gain new revenue streams while delivering affordable, high-quality voice to customers.

TMCnet spoke with Heap to find out more about the Webinar and Arbinet’s approach to voice peering.

Peering For All Service Providers

Heap emphasized that Arbinet’s peering solutions are designed for all providers, whether they currently are offering VoIP services or not.

“Peering is an opportunity for every service provider,” he said. “Rather than just the VoIP audience, we're addressing the needs of service providers who may not even be doing VoIP at all at present.”

Heap said that a key reason why peering is not more popular is because it is focused almost solely on direct VoIP-to-VoIP traffic. Yet in truth, only a small percentage of voice traffic in the world is purely VoIP and so the number of calls that go from one VoIP customer to another is even smaller. That means pure-play VoIP peering solutions are appealing to only a relatively small number of providers.

Good for Providers and Customers

Unlike most peering solution providers, Heap said, Arbinet’s solution is based on a commercial business model—rather than the idea that peering should be done for free. He explained that the company’s philosophy is that carriers should be able to receive money for terminating calls.

Peering may be especially appealing to smaller providers, Heap noted.

Opening up new revenue streams, and providing a realistic migratory path toward VoIP, is definitely beneficial for providers. Customers also benefit from high-quality voice service and potential savings on their bills.

Solving the Challenges

Arbinet’s PeeringSolutions offerings address a number of challenges typically inherent in peering. The table below summarizes these challenges and how Arbinet simplifies the process.

Challenge

Solution

Sharing VoIP numbers with other carriers

Numbers are entered into the SPIDER Registry and can be shared automatically with other members of the community

Querying outgoing calls against an ENUM-type server

Arbinet does the querying and the appropriate routing to the correct service provider

Establishing quality transport between carriers

Each carrier connects to an Arbinet switch and Arbinet then provides bridging to the terminating service provider

Setting up firewall security to accept calls from other carriers

Service providers only need to accept incoming calls from Arbinet, which forwards the signaling from the originator

Setting up commercial relationships with other carriers to handle billing/settlement